Monday, June 30, 2008

In other news...

I was checking my email this past week end and stopped to read the news on aol. Not sure if anyone else noticed this story, but there was a very sad excerpt about a teenager that was decapitated at Six Flags in GA by the "Batman" roller coaster. Now, having been on the Batman (in St Louis) and having teenagers of my own, and being the sensitive sort that I am I am suddenly drawn into this story and how the family must be feeling and how scary life is when all you wanted to do was take your children on a fun day and how it could all end so tragically. When I clicked on the story to get more info (because feeling sad and scared was just not enough), the information that followed left me speechless...sort of. Apparently this teenager had climbed two 6 foot fences and passed several signs that said DANGER, etc. Why did he do this senseless act of defiance which led to the loss of his head, you ask?? To get his hat. Does anyone else see the irony here? I went from the complete horror of the description of this tragic accident to trying to hold back the irresistible urge to laugh uncontrollably. I failed... kids came running to see what was so funny. All I could do was point. I guess I should mention that we have a morbid sense of humor around here, because it sort of set off a chain reaction of "ways we wouldn't want to die".

Okay, there really is a point to this story other than a shameless attempt to amuse myself at someone else's expense. The point is this: how many times do we ignore God's boundaries because we have to get our hat? God says "thou shalt not", and we look both ways and then do what we want because we don't see (or believe) the danger. "but God", we say, "I will just be a minute... I will come right back... no one will ever know..." We don't just defy His warning, we actually take the time and effort to climb the fences that were put in place to protect us. Are we really so arrogant as to think that we know better the creator of the ride?

The thing is that I am, by nature, a rule follower. Often in my life that has been mistaken for a snooty, self righteous, holier-than-thou little (can't repeat that part). I really don't mean to be, I just honestly don't understand the urge to defy the boundaries. I guess that I really believe that they are for my benefit and I don't understand the need of some to push them. Why do people do that?

I have tried to pass this down to my children, but have not always been successful. They still tell me stories of what their "friends" are doing that are in clear violation of the Word and they don't see that the consequences can be deadly, and permanent.

I wish that I could somehow communicate to them that although the people at Six Flags put those fences and warning signs there out of a strong desire to not get sued, God puts up his fences and warning signs out of His infinite love for his children, and yes even for humanity in general since anyone can benefit from His principles. We are raising a generation of children that are being taught to color "outside of the lines". When did that become creative instead of chaotic?

1 comment:

Here I was, sitting at my computer, mentally trying to figure out how someone could lose their head in a suspended roller coaster. Your morbid sense of humor has rubbed off on me. But I think my reasons for not going against the rules are different than yours. I don't obey out of the understanding that rules are for my benefit, but out of fear that the worse case scenario will happen to me. I would have known that climbing those fences and passing the danger signs would have surely meant death. I might have even predicted decapitation. But then, I am a glass half empty sort of gal. Good thing I am too big to get my fat butt over two six foot fences. One, possibly, but two? Not a chance.